Page 35 of Never Too Late
‘Two things: first, I’ve got a rather nice grand piano up at my place – although the sea air plays havoc with the tuning – which you’re welcome to come and play any time and, second, I’m performing in Sanremo and a few other places next week and I’m including a selection of Chopin’s nocturnes. I know he mostly wrote for the piano but I like to shake the audience up a bit, so I’ve adapted several pieces for pianoandviolin. I don’t suppose you might have a bit of free time to accompany me for an hour or two as I practise? It would be a great help.’
Steph shook her head apprehensively. ‘No way. I’m miles out of your league. Don’t forget, I’ve heard you play.’
‘I’m sure you could do it. I’m not asking you to launch into Beethoven’s Sonata in B flat major or anything like that. All I want is a bit of accompaniment. I’ve only performed this once before and I’m a bit rusty. My regular accompanist will be meeting me in Sanremo on Saturday for a final practice so this would be just to give me a bit extra. Besides, the piano part is pretty straightforward. You do read music, don’t you?’
Steph nodded. ‘Yes, but…’
‘Honestly, it’ll be fine. Would you at least be prepared to come round and give it a try? It would be a big help. And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you could always have a go on the Steinway anyway.’
Still feeling apprehensive, she reluctantly agreed. Her reluctance, she knew full well, was partly at the thought of accompanying a world-famous soloist, but it was also at the thought of finding herself once more alone in his charming old house with him. There was a limit to the amount of self-control she could muster if it were to turn out that he thought of her as more than a friend after all. He could see she was still having second thoughts, so he added an incentive.
‘How about this as a deal? You give me two hours of your time today or tomorrow and I’ll take you out to dinner in a lovely little restaurant I know in the hills in return?’
By this time the sensible, logical side of her brain had checked out completely so, in spite of all her doubts and fears, she said yes. After adding another handful of caveats about her limited skills, she agreed to come to his house as soon after five as she could that evening, subject to Keith and the others not needing her.
When she got up to the villa, she was delighted to find not only Ethan but also Ben, Johnny and Keith already at the breakfast table although it was barely half past eight. As she sipped her cappuccino, she asked Keith if they were still planning on playing all day.
‘Yesterday went really well, so let’s do more of the same but with you in the mix as well. We went through most of the new stuff yesterday, making a few alterations and additions and the next step is for you to join in with us. Maybe Ethan could even record one or two numbers although it’ll still be just practice for most of them for the next few days until we’ve cracked them one by one. Okay with you?’
Steph shot a look across at Ethan who gave her a silent nod of the head. He looked better today, and it was obvious that he had managed to get up in time to take a shower and change into clean clothes before breakfast, which was progress. She looked back at Keith.
‘Absolutely fine by me. I’ll be down at the studio waiting.’
The day passed in a flash. They spent all morning in the studio and went through the ten new tracks, several of which rapidly developed into almost ten minutes each. Ethan demonstrated his skill as a producer by suggesting, cajoling, and bullying them, chopping out parts and editing others until the songs were all taking shape. Keith, contrary to how he had been reputed to behave, appeared happy to go along with almost everything and didn’t raise his voice once. Although by the time they finished they had only been able to produce a final version of two of them, the different songs were all coming along well and the three band members went off with smiles on their faces. For Steph it had been a magical day, listening to these men – who had been her teen idols – discussing their work, and seeing first-hand how the different songs developed organically.
Lunch was a hurried affair and the only surprise was the absence of Willow. Faye whispered to Steph that Willow had gone off somewhere the previous day and had only returned at nightfall and had barely exchanged two sentences with anybody. Whether this was because of a prior commitment or whether the shouting match in the middle of the night with Denver on Sunday had caused her to distance herself from him was unknown, but the fact that she had gone off again without him today sounded ominous for her hopes of marrying him. As for Denver, he appeared distracted as he listened to his father discussing the morning’s session with the others. It looked very likely that something had happened to love’s young dream.
Chapter 16
At the end of the afternoon, Steph went up to the villa to tell Cesare that she would be eating out, and then returned to her room, took a careful shower making sure not to get the dressing over her stitches wet, and changed in preparation for the evening. The idea of accompanying Rob on the piano worried her and she hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed if she failed to do it properly. Add to that her nervousness at the prospect of what might even be a proper date with him afterwards and she was unusually tense when she finally left her room and headed for his house. It was still hot outside so she had resisted the urge to dress up for him and decided in favour of one of her new tops and a pair of white jeans, although at the last minute she picked up a light jumper just in case it got colder inland as night fell.
She was greeted boisterously by the Labrador, who had been snoozing in the shade of one of the cypresses that lined the drive to the house. Walking between the trees, the aroma of resin was heady, and she breathed deeply as she looked through the dark green branches towards the blue of the Gulf of Poets beyond. It really was a fabulous location for a house. At her side, the happy dog bounced up and down, giving her a warm canine welcome.
‘Ciao, Steph, thanks for coming.’ Rob appeared at the door wearing a plain white T-shirt, shorts and a smile. Certainly, she thought to herself, he appeared to be much more relaxed in her presence now that they were getting to know each other better. He appeared to be on his best behaviour, but she cautioned herself to be careful not to get drawn under his spell, but her subconscious was once again showing signs of rebellion.
‘Ciao, Rob.’
She managed to restrain the urge to kiss him – even just on the cheeks – and followed him inside, through the big living room where they had eaten the other night and into another large room beyond. The far end of this was occupied by a magnificent concert grand piano, almost three metres long, its lid propped up so the strings were facing a pair of arched French windows that were wide open towards the gulf. The sight of this wonderful instrument only added to the butterflies in her tummy, and she glanced across apprehensively at him.
‘What a monster, Rob! Where did you get this; the Royal Albert Hall?’
‘Not far off. It actually used to belong to La Scala in Milan. I was performing at the opera house a couple of years ago and I heard that they were thinking of replacing their old piano after almost eighty years, so I took the plunge and said I’d buy it off them.’ He grinned. ‘As investments go, it has two advantages: one is that with that sort of provenance it’s an appreciating asset, or so I’m told, and the other is that any would-be thief would need a forklift to get it out of here.’
Steph went across and ran her fingers reverently over the mahogany case. ‘So do you play the piano as well as the violin?’
‘Yes, but not particularly well. I do enjoy it, though. By the way, I find it’s best played with the windows open otherwise it tends to echo a bit too much in here. Go on, see what you think.’
Nervously, Steph sat down on the antique music stool and let her fingers run lightly over the keyboard. The thought that some of the most legendary names in classical music had played on these same keys was awe-inspiring and she came close to jumping up and running off in alarm, but knowing how proud her father would have been to see her here, about to accompany one of the world’s greatest living violinists, kept her glued to the seat. After a few seconds to collect herself, she launched into one of her favourite go-to pieces, coincidentally one of Chopin’s nocturnes. It started slowly and gradually built up. At first, she was hesitant but then as her confidence grew and the rich sound of the historic piano filled the room, she let it take her and by the time she came to the last few notes she felt sure she had hardly ever played it so well.
She slowly lifted her hands from the keyboard and turned to give him an apprehensive look. In response he gave her what looked like a genuine smile. ‘Lovely, really lovely. That’s his Nocturne in D flat major; I’ve always loved that piece. It’s not on my list for next week, but I play it myself on the piano from time to time, but never as well as that.’ He gave a very Italian kiss of his pinched fingers. ‘Bravissima!’
A wave of relief swept over her. She knew he had to be exaggerating but it was wonderful all the same to receive a compliment from an artist of his calibre. ‘So, what about this job you want me to do?’
‘You’re sitting on it.’ He was grinning.
At first she didn’t realise, and then the penny dropped. Rising to her feet, she lifted the cushioned seat to reveal the compartment beneath where she found a pile of sheet music, the top ones all Chopin.
They started with the Nocturne in C sharp minor and worked through three other pieces. She soon settled into the accompanist role and rapidly found that they worked well together. She was worried at first that he might develop into a pernickety tyrant, like his father had once been, according to Ben. She remembered her father telling her about some of the artists and conductors with whom he had worked who had shouted and screamed, but such was far from the case. Rob was understanding and very good at explaining exactly what he wanted her to do. She was fascinated to hear the way he tailored his playing to the original piano score, and she had to concentrate hard to keep her mind on what she was doing rather than what he was doing.
